Lawyer Willis Otieno caused drama in the Supreme court when he switched to his mother tongue while giving his submissions in court.
Otieno, who is representing the fourth petitioner(David Kariuki Ngari) in the case seeking to nullify the declaration of William Ruto as the president elect in the August 9 general election, was forced to switch to Luo to put his point across while explaining how IEBC chairman Wafula Chebukati engaged in the Pata Potea game before announcing winner of presidential.
The lawyer noted that the IEBC chairman kept Kenyans in the darkness the whole day on August 15 since the public tallying of the results per constituency had been stopped.
According to him, only Chebukati was aware who the winner was as IEBC commissioners were also kept in the dark but he had contacted the leading presidential candidates.
“He proceeded to conduct elections in the way that he desired. What he ended up doing is what my grandmother Sophia Magambu calls Nairobi Karafuu, pata potea. Nairobi Karafuu to mean at the National tallying center the chairperson of the commission called both Raila and William Ruto,” Otieno said.
To express his point further he sang a Luo nursery song.
“What Chebukati did what my niece, Mimi, calls ‘Piki piki ponki, Paka mielo disko!’ Chebukati calls both Ruto and Raila and he was the only person who knew who the disko would land on. It fell on Hon. William Ruto and he says, voila, you are the president, is that how we intend to choose our national executive?” Otieno posed.
Judge Smokin Wanjala was forced to intervene, telling him that the language he was speaking was not recognized in court.
“That language appears to be alien to this court,” the judge told him with the lawyer apologizing to the court.
Funny moment when lawyer Otieno Willis sings popular nursery rhyme “Inky Pinky Ponky” in dholuo. Judges tell him “That language appears to be alien to this court”#KenyasChoice2022 pic.twitter.com/hoZodoEtLd
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 31, 2022
The lawyer, who was sweating profusely as he put across his argument, also found himself on the wrong side when he compared the Supreme court judges with IEBC commissioners.
“The number of IEBC commissioners are seven plus the chairperson, the number of Supreme court judges are seven plus the Chief Justice, ” he said in part of his speech.
“Are you comparing the Supreme court to IEBC? Be very careful,” Judge Smokin told him.
RELATED STORY:Ruto Panics As IEBC Repeats 2017 Mistake Of Defying Supreme Court’s Order Of Opening Servers
